[woodcote]

Race Report - Morning session

Fifteen of us rocked up to the fourth running of our ultra-nerdy WHO Goodwood Revival - and we were also joined at lunchtime by Keith, Deborah & David (to spectate) and James (to marshal & race). Several of our racers were at RAF Westhampnett last weekend to witness the real thing and nine of us made an effort to do the dressing up thing...

   

Indeed, with no new kit-builds and only one re-livery on show, the concours d'élégance was for costumes this year - Alex winning the popular vote, ahead of Simon and John. We were missing WHO Revival regulars Pete, Jeremy, Duncan & Ryan (all on holiday), but the attendance was up on last year. Those absentees meant fewer cars, which created some positive discussion and a commitment to work together through the year to plan, build and test cars for the 2026 event. Only Mike, Alex & Dean had cars for all six races, so there is plenty of scope to get more on the grid.

Anyway, back to the racing...

Race One: Tourist Trophy Celebration
A 15-minute pairs race with driver changes, featuring front-engined RTR models of 1959-64 closed-top Grand Touring cars

   

Usually run to our Wednesday-night pairs format, the six-car field meant we ran one, double-length race. Three racers sat this out, but they'd soon be in action for the St Mary's Trophy. We had two Fly Ferraris - one fast, one not. Revell/Monogram was represented by a Cobra Daytona and last year's winning Corvette Gran Sport. From Scalextric, we had an Aston Martin DB5 and a sparkly purple Shelby Cobra 289...

   

The early stages of the race were very close, John & Mike's Ferrari leading Dean & Ash's purple Cobra, Andy & Simon M's Ferrari and Alex & Ollie's Corvette - all on the same lap after 5 minutes. At half-distance, Simon & Oliver's DB5 had moved ahead of the 'Vette - a lap-sized gap separating each of the cars back to Isaac & Kev's Cobra Daytona in sixth.

The Cobra Daytona sadly went off the boil in the second half of the race and the DB5 had some problems that momentarily dropped them to the back. However, Alex got to grips with the Corvette and managed to close in on and pass rookie Simon, who was having a good run with the slower of the two Fly Ferraris. Having got into the podium places, Alex found chasing down the leading two pairs a much tougher proposition. As time ran out, Mike & John took the win by 4 laps, with Dean & Ash two laps ahead of the Corvette. The second Ferrari finished less than a lap ahead of the DB5, which had recovered very well from its mid-race troubles...

   

Here are the official results and stats for the TT Celebration...

   
You can click on the image to make it bigger.

Congrats to our winners and our first podium of the day...

   

Race Two: St Mary's Trophy
A two-part pairs race for 4-seat hard-top saloon cars 1948-1966

   

We had eight cars in this one - Two-Jags Alex running his George Turner model with Matthew and a Scalextric version with Simon M. Last year's winning car - a George Turner Cortina - and its two drivers were missing this time, so the favourite was probably Mike's George Turner Ford Falcon, the winner from 2022 and 2023. But there was certainly stiff competition through the field, including the two-time runner-up Carrera Chevy Bel-Air that Andy & Ash have attempted to tame over the previous three years.

   

Each driver would race for ten minutes, with the pair's totals combined. We'd have a heat of six to begin and then two heats of five cars. Heat A saw Alex win and deliver a big 38 lap score with the George Turner Jag. That equalled the best ever score for a St Mary's heat (Ryan in Pete's Cortina last year). In second, but matching the 38 laps, was John in the Falcon. Terry brought the Mongram Galaxie home third with 36 laps and the two Scalextric Mustangs (yes, the ones with the odd motor alignment) of Ollie and Isaac were fourth and fifth, scoring a very respectable 35 laps each. Sixth, with 32 laps was Dean's Scalextric Jaguar.

   

The Falcon went again in Heat B - up against Andy in the Chevy. It was an enthralling battle between the two - but after ten minutes, Chevy beat Ford by a lap, 38 to 37. Kev was third, scoring 33 laps for the Fuller Mustang. Simon M put in a solid 26 laps for the second of the two Scalextric Jaguars, but Matthew had a disaster with Alex's George Turner Jag - the fragile resin chassis snapping and forcing an early end to his race...

   

With the George Turner Jag out of the running, the Falcon led the way with 75 laps - breaking the previous WHO St Mary's record by a lap. Heat C saw Ash with a chance to equal or better that total, Oliver needing something utterly extraordinary to put the Galaxie top. The Chevy is a big beast with no brakes, but both Ash and Andy have learned how to float it around the WHO Goodwood layout. The pressure was on Ash, but he did what he needed to - another 38 lap score to give a combined total of 76, a new record and enough for outright victory. Oliver's second place and 37 laps secured a podium place, while Alex thrashed his Scalextric Jaguar Mk1 to a most entertaining 35 laps. Fourth was Rob, adding another 35 laps to suggest that the Scalextric Mustang is a decent racer after all, finishing fourth and fifth overall...

   

Congrats to our winners and our St Mary's Trophy podium...

   

And here's a bit of video from the St Mary's race...



And then it was lunchtime - where had the morning gone?